The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 14, 1901, Page 7

TING ROOM WITH PICTURE REFINED CELEGANCE APTATION ©F FOREIGN rich bronzes, rare carvings, cabinets, ete., though "these latter are not necessary to when one has ar- g for them. ns have your paint as irnish it in Americo- rapged a settl biack as ebony % t be stained dark and highly polished or (if you prefer it so) c Japanese in- red with fine your windows : r v tuff unsewed >gether of blue and white cotton crepe, Do not use white muslin with I think that the e furnishing h woodwork of ing is beautiful, strips at each win- If you can procure for your door- way one of the Japanese curtains which come in strips of embrotdery on colored will be fortunat pots of plants (dwaef cypress trees, etc.) the little square teakwood stands which iend such a for- a flowering azalea or =mall rose tree in full bloom in a pot on a high shelf. A dado of fine matting running up to tte candle snelf around the walls and above that the walls shoull For a frieze above grays, of black ¥Ould hang se neutral tones— t of their homes k absence of fu American taste is a ment windows are meam to loox wide, and Have your These short curtains may be caught ba midway with cords and tassels, muslin curtains next the panes are un- derneath them; or, all, colore may be left to hang st In hanging mu set near the ight and full to- slin, or net, or silk at casement windows do not sew any of the breadths together. more artistic and dge to selvedge. trimming with fringes and t tunately been abandoned. tain, therefore, you unde: caught back and writing from Santa advice in fitting up a be colored a dull blue. ¥ oking If latt hang. your black picture molding you may able to find a paper which represents Jap- in blue on a white els has for- The outer ciir- stand, may be in furnishing up to any bur own mind the salient rather cottage effects. are medium long and you wish to give height and a a a good frieze. Ir your windows I would use only bamboc 1 will find also that onc of potent charm to that period We know that to embody s to the floor. T and beauty in raw silk or be caught back ju: A very commonplace window may metamorphosed into jpoticeable feature of your room by means If, for instance, you have two plain, mril-made windows which are placed not more than a fdot apart, you can so curtain them that they will look i ._They should OF WINDOWS AND above the sill lir window drapery or taste whether s hang to the floor or are cut s also sometimes a For a cAsemer picturesque WOOH i f e rich glitter ¢ fof its drapery. r of construction. is seldom a curtain should fail only to the sill. Case: d be swinging lights in I Iways glowing through glass or silk, and there may be THE SUNDAY CALL. llke @ne rarge window. This 1s done by hanging a valance from the top casing , over both windows, and letting tne Ona on either side of the outside edge and one to cover the wall space between the two Suppose this goods to be pretty flowered chintz, and that you have whito the panes, and suppose you go still further and have a broad shelf made and fastened to your sill, so that you can set flower-pots on it with blooming plants in them: have you an effect which will be a constant pleasure to you and to your breadths of goods hang from this. windows. muslin caught back against not thus creates friends? On the other hand you might, if you choose to do so, merely hang green paper blinds at these windows and leave them undraped to stare at you in characterless stupidity. For curtaining doorways would merely advise hanging all drapery straight from rods. It is scldom pretty t back. A handsome Kiskillim rug should be thrown over a pole and one : They can be fastened invigibly to the pole with safety pins and push back easily. In buy- ing a handsome Kiskilim rip the seam iddle and hang them with the borders facing one another. L. M. P.—You ask about the firevlace (llflnE ir._your yellow room. As your work is vellow and your paper yel- low and whife, I would have my files Indeed, it is a very safe plan when you wish to keep a room light and to glve' it a particularly dainty look to have It is far better than a color caug] end left to hang over straight. which runs down the white. white tiling. which is slightly off shade from the rest of_the room. M. G.—By all means set the large the wall of your hall. in this way exactly face the front door, and as your hall is not large it will be w great acquisition, for it will apparently add much much elegance to the apartment. place some sort of light pedestal with a rowing fern or delicate little palm in it front of the mirror if I were you. INEXPENSIVE DEVICES THAT LEND LUXURY. depth and certainly B. M. G.—You ask me for some general advice about lendin, that “air of luxury' which I have sev- eral times referred to. ou have smiled over this expression as eing rather strong when used in connec- really economical ments, but I profnise you sincerely, if vou will carry out. practically some of the hints I am now going to give you, you will smile with satisfaction over the re- sult of your work. You must feel that many rooms, while expensively furnished, lack that air of invitation to restful ease which, after all, lends the real charm to It is more desirable to in- vest a room with this quality than to be able to spend an unlimited amount of money on it. There is nothing which gives to a simple room I have no doubt an interior. a more comfortably inhabited look than low, easy chairs, hassocks and footstools, rich sofa cushions and broad couches. In a room which bears the impress of re- fined, intelligent living there should also be at least one broad, substantial table at which to write and on which lie the latest magazines or the last popular novel, etc. ‘uhis table, to be complete, should hold a shaded light, either an electric light brought up from the floor or down by a cord from the ceiling (it can be so shaded and arranged as to represent a handsome reading lamp) or one of the tall lamps in standards_called banquet lamps. This Jamp can be so decorated with an artistic shade as to be one of the features of your room. One thinks of an easy chair as neces- sarily an expensive piece of furniture, but a determined and energetic woman' can get around this obstacle by searching the second-hand shops for a large, comfort- able, stuffed chair, the glory of wnose covering has departed. It may once have been covered with brocade, but she can rejuvenate it with some of the art denims which are brought in such soft shades of old blue. dark blue, green, old rose, dark brownish red and clear wine color that it will affiliate much more congenially with its inexpensively artistic surroundings than if clad in brocade. The striped can- vas, cross-legged chair which is bought for porches and which costs from $1 50 & 2, can, with taste and very little trouble, be transformed into something hands enough for a room of this character. While not made on the precise prin of the Morris chair, it can be let dow any angle of extenslon one requires. Therefore if rubbed down and painted to look like ebony and stretched with tapes try or velours instead of awning good then fllled with cushions of elderdown cov- ered with silks or rich brocades, it is transformed into an extremely handsomn article of furniture. A tiny brass bead! let into .the wood of the pieces which come down the sides makes a_stil tier finish. More cheaply still. I have seen one of these chairs ebonized and having a row of.brass-headed tacks driven into tha wood so closely as to look like a beading} a plece of dark blue denim was then doubled and stitched together (to give it sufficient firmness to serve as a seat) and stretched over the chair. In this were cushions of orange-colored silk, a long one tied to the back, a square one in the sevt which almost hid the blue denim. Tans it was one of the prettiest, things in a room which held many that were far more expensive and intrinsically valuable. A hassock or large cushion placed on the floor can be made of Japanese matting. Put two pleces, a square of the width of matting, together and bind them with wool brald. You will find that you can readily stitch this on the machine. Make a firmly stuffed cushion first of white cot- ton or canvas, filling it with excelsior ard cotton wool, then elip your matting cover over it. Use this cushion to throw on the floor and on top of it lay a softer one ¢ ered with cotton or silk. This will give you a bit of bright color just when some ;lingy corner of the room seems to cajl or it. A DINING ROOM IN VENETIAN RED—L. T. V. I agree with you that Venetian red is very rich and handsome for a dining room. As your woodwork has been painted and you cannot use the Flemish oak stain, I would paint my f 3 woodwork Cover your walls with the glazed s In Venetian red and have your « calcimined in a softer and siightly , .er shade of red. It will look well between the crossbeams of black wood, and you will find the effect excel- lent, especially if your electric light of old brass comes up close against it. Have your chairs made to crder in some pretty quaint designs. Any thoroughly artistic architect can do this for you, As you would do well to keep a hint of Venetian art to the fore in this room, I would have the back pieces run up in some long twist- ed effect, and then have them stained in the very dark Flemish oak. Let the seats be covered with dark red meorocco and_finished with old brass nails. Have a Flemish cak table made with twisted legs. If you have an impression that to have furniture made to order by any spe- cial design is an enormously expensive fancy I wish to undeceive you. You will be agreeably surprised to find that chairs of your own design frequently can be made for less than the more commonplace patterns found in the shops. Use a heavy white lace scarf across the middle of your table and have for a center- piece a Venetian glass bowl set in silver filagree. You will find, I think, that all of your silver, cut glass and brasses will gleam out with extreme beauty in this room. I like a buffét built into the wall with doors here and there of brilliant glass leaded in. Curtaigy your windows fi with net which ha¥ a heavy whita lace border. Let this border run across the window, showing heavily against the glass. If vou_ are fortunale emough to possess any old Italian ecclesiastical lace this is the place to use it. From the top of the window to the window seat hang full draped curtains of some rich Oriental stuff which has some blue in it. As you have not a hafdwood floor, cover it with dark red filling and lay a Turkish rug under the table. It would be well if this rug also had some blue in it. Cer- tainly there Is nothing more beautiful for dorways than handsome Kiskillims. The large windows you speak of and the = héary white lace In tnis room Wil pree vent all possibility of its looking dark; it will be exceedingly rich, but not glomy. And now for the mantei, which you con- sider so hopelessly commonplace. Paint it black and make a lambrequin. for it coming down in a straight line across the front—do not be tempted to drape it—of a plece of old red brocade, somewhat faded if you can get it. Border this with gold galloon, and if you can find a tall Vene- tian bottle with a twisted neck, or a huge Venetian candlestick, it will pay you to place it there, as it will lift your mantel at once out of the commonplace. Your firedogs should be of brass and selected to_accord with your electric t fixtures. PAINT FOR BEDROOMS—You ask my advice about painting the woodwork for bed chambers. In a_bedroom I prefer the paint to hardwood. It seems to me to tone in more softly and beautifully with the papers. If your paper has a white ground with yellow roses on it. paint all of your wood the exact shade of some yellow tone in the rose. I would select a medium tone, but be very careful that your Dpainter catches it exactly. Your yellow mantel- Blece will look very attractive with whita earth and tiling.